News Shorts: The Equalizer Returns With A Third Season On Universal TV Across Africa, New Original Film The Greatest Hits Unveiled For Disney+ And Zokie Of Planet Ruby To Rollout On International Nickelodeon Channels In May

The Equalizer returns to Universal TV this month 

The Equalizer is set to return for its highly anticipated third season, exclusively on Universal TV. The show stars Queen Latifah as Robyn McCall, Lorraine Toussaint as Viola “Aunt Vi” Marsette, Tory Kittles as Detective Marcus Dante, Adam Goldberg as Harry Keshegian, Liza Lapira as Melody “Mel” Bayani, and Laya DeLeon Hayes as Delilah. The new season consists of 18, one-hour episodes airing every Friday at 20:00 (CAT) from 29 March 2024 on Universal TV (DStv 117). Episodes will be available on demand through Universal+ immediately thereafter.

Season 3 picks up after the tumultuous and nerve-wracking season 2 finale that saw Robyn McCall get abducted in front of her daughter Delilah and Aunt Vi. As someone who has worked hard to keep her family and work life separate, she will have to face a whole new set of challenges when she escapes her captors. Donal Logue (Sons of Anarchy, Vikings) guest stars as Colton Fisk, one of the CIA’s most decorated agents, an ex-CIA union chief in the Middle East during the 1990s. Empowered with a Tier 5 security clearance (the highest possible) he was part of the intelligence team that took out Bin Laden, and for many years he ran “The Farm” (the CIA training base in Virginia). The addition of Logue follows Robyn’s mentor Bishop being killed by her longtime nemesis Mason Quinn (Chris Vance). Similarly to Bishop, Colton is a powerful and connected agent who navigates in the shadows. His connection to Robyn is as yet unknown…

The Greatest Hits to stream on Disney+

Harriet finds art imitating life when she discovers certain songs can transport her back in time – literally. While she relives the past through romantic memories of her former boyfriend, her time travelling collides with a burgeoning new love interest in the present. As she takes her journey through the hypnotic connection between music and memory, she wonders – even if she could change the past, should she?

The film stars Lucy Boynton as Harriet, a woman who discovers that certain songs transports her back in time where she relives a past romance, leaving her wondering if she should try to prevent the accident which resulted in the death of her boyfriend two years ago, or move on with her relationship in present day. 

It arrives on Disney+ from April 12.

Zokie and Ruby are coming to Nickelodeon 

In Zokie of Planet Ruby, quirky 10-year-old vlogger Ruby discovers her only video channel follower is a tail-zapping space alien from the planet Pudge named Zokie Sparkleby, and they quickly become best friends. Along with their friend Earl, a talking con-man squirrel, Ruby teaches Zokie about her version of Earth, while Zokie learns to control his unpredictable powers.

The buddy comedy series was produced and owned by Nelvana Enterprises in Canada was greenlit back in 2019 under the working title, Zokie Sparkleton and Zokie Sparkleby. Oddly enough, the first season was made available to stream on Amazon Prime Video by the end of December with no prior announcement. 

Now the series is gearing up for linear debut on Nickelodeon channels globally (excluding the US) from May 6.t

Could MultiChoice And M-Net Also Look To Close M-Net Movies 3 And M-Net Movies 4 On The DStv Platform?

During the week, it was reported that both Me and 1Magic which serves as secondary channels to M-Net would be exiting the DStv platform by the end if March. Not only are consumers going to pay more for less channels but M-Net is doing away with secondary brands.

Since then, consumers having been going on a downward spiral with some looking to cancel their subscription by the time the new prices come into affect with others downgrading to more affordable packages.

M-Net is streamlining its channel offering to provide a more seamless entertainment experience for DStv customers. After a comprehensive analysis of our content strategy, we have made the decision to terminate 1Magic [and Me].

Of course these endeavors does lead some to wonder if more TV channels could be affected particularly M-Net Movies. If M-Net is capable of doing away with a brand such as Me what's stopping them from doing the same with their movie offering.

Ever since M-Net Movies was restructured almost four years ago, M-Net Movies 1 and 2 have been lurking around the same corridor as their lower tiered counterparts M-Net Movies 3 and M-Net Movies 4 which had bombarded with repeats and other older films.

MultiChoice has been looking to further limit amount of repeats seen on DStv. The movie offering has the most repetition before M-Net Movies 1 and M-Net Movies 2 previous iterations were more priotised with fresher releases now that's not the case.

Former DStv Channel: What Happened To The Afrikaans Music Sensation MK?

Musiek Kanaal (MK) was a youth oriented music channel with similar styling to the early 2000s MTV and Channel O. It was distributed by M-Net on DStv channel 324 when it launched by mid-2005 as MK89 with the 89 being its original frequency on the platform. 

As mentioned, MK had the MTV influence and prestige with reality shows like Jol24, Hoeneer and Petrolkop with music from Hoordoosis, Ondergrond and Kraakvars. Aside from catering to a much younger audience it was well known for infusing music genres. 

By 2013, it was announced that MK would be exiting the DStv platform after 8 years with audio version launched in place. M-Net and MultiChoice noticed its strong online presence so kept various social accounts on air in an attempt to build its streaming base.

Prior to its discontinuation, KykNET launched its third spinoff channel KykNET NOU (formerly KykNET Musiek) which is described as a variety channel incorporating music and other programming into the mix.

Although, MultiChoice had the intention of retaining MK through an international service with other content viewed on the audio bouquet. This proved to be unsuccessful as MK barely had much content in the pipeline that it wasn't long till it got discontinued to its entirety. 

To date, MK's content is still accessible on YouTube although owners Google were looking to deactivate millions of inactive accounts. With thousand hours of MK content on the platform one has to wonder how long the brand would continue to be accessible. 

Understanding the downfall of MK

According to MultiChoice, most of its consumers preferred using online platforms than watching outdated television which contributed to its low figures. But that couldn't be any further from reality as a various scenarios could have formed the exiting of MK.

KykNET NOU was introduced as the new kid in the block a year before MK was shut down. Unlike MK, KykNET NOU was grouped alongside KykNET's other linear channels despite offering similar content to MK which was grouped with MTV Base and Trace Urban.

MK was a premium channel while KykNET NOU was available all the way down to Family. KykNET NOU had the figures and combining that with MK put it at a disadvantage so if the problem was viewership they could have restructured the content as opposed to closing. 

April 2024 On Discovery Family, Real Time And Travel Channel Across Africa | New Series Alert: Spooked Scotland | Returning Shows Including Homicide City And Salvage Hunters | More

Discovery Family 

Salvage Hunters S5

NEW TO CHANNEL 

Drew Pritchard makes money from bits of buildings others don't want. Whether it's a historic chimney from a medieval manor or a glass conservatory dome from a Victorian folly, he spends life on the road searching for architectural treasures

First TX: 17 April

TX Day: Mon - Fri

TX Time: 15:10

Last TX: 30 April

Travel Channel 

Spooked Scotland S1

Brand New

Gail Porter, Chris Fleming and an expert paranormal team investigate supernatural

sightings and terrifying stories across Scotland.

First TX: 17 April

TX Day: Wednesday

TX Time: 21:10

Last TX: 29 May

The Dead Files S15

New Season

Physical medium Amy Allan and retired homicide detective Steve DiSchiavi combine their unique skills to solve unexplained paranormal phenomena in haunted locations across America. Each investigator's findings remain hidden from

the other, and from the property's occupants, until the shocking results are revealed in a riveting conclusion.

First TX: 1 April

TX Day: Monday

TX Time: 22:10

Last TX: 27 May

Real Time

Guy's Grocery Games S15

NEW TO CHANNEL

Guy Fieri sends talented chefs running through the aisles of Flavortown Market for the chance to make some serious dough. They face real-world

challenges as they compete to be the last chef

standing in this high-stakes cooking competition.

First TX: 9 April

TX Day: Weekdays

TX Time: 12:05

Last TX: 22 April

Animal Cops Houston S17

NEW TO CHANNEL

Discover how the Houston Society for the

Prevention of Cruelty to Animals races to save

40,000 animals in distress every year.

First TX: 18 April

TX Day: Weekdays

TX Time: 15:50

Last TX: 30 April

Homicide City S2

NEW TO CHANNEL

Veteran detectives who have seen it all take a deep dive into the stories of unforgettable murders from major American cities, revealing why these are the cases they will never forget.

First TX: 1 April

TX Day: Everyday

TX Time: 22:30

Last TX: 8 April

From Turkish Galore On Timeless Dizi Channel To Blockbuster Movies On FilmBox: Could Any Of These Channels Rollout On DStv Perhaps?

During the month, it was reported that Canal+ had increased its offer to takeover DStv by 19% with a sum of R35,9 billion. This comes after their initial offering of R32 billion was rejected with the Takeover Regulation Panel (TRP) ordering them to propose a new deal.

As some readers are aware,  Canal+ owns various properties outside of Africa part of which are licensed to broadcasters such as StarTimes. Should the acquisition of the DStv parent company move forward these assets could be unified.

Properties owned by Canal+ include the Norwegian based brand, SPI International. Home to the leading entertainment brand for Turkish stories Timeless Dizi Channel ( TDC) alongside FilmBox, FilmBox Action, FashionBox, FightBox, DocuBox and Gametoon. 

There's a lot of conflict in this section as MultiChoice comes with a similar offering. For Turkish fans there's KykNET and for international series and sport fans there's M-Net and SuperSport Action so this would only leaves brands like DocuBox, Gametoon and FashionBox vacated. 

With M-Net serving as a frontrunner behind FilmBox as it houses original productions while as licensing fresher content. It's likely that brands like FilmBox will integrate with other M-Net channels if not close I mean the idea wouldn't seem far fetched. 

With Canal+ small stake in MultiChoice, they were able to distribute channels like Zee World and SuperSport La Liga on their local platforms in Rwanda and Cameroon. Although FilmBox has the reach in other countries it goes unnoticed in Africa. 

That doesn't mean that these channels can't rollout on DStv but with Canal+ assets they could explore other means. With M-Net's Me out of the coop, FilmBox Africa could take up its position and for Ginx eSports TV and People's Weather there's Gametoon and DocuBox. 

With WWE likely being purged to streaming once it's contract with SuperSport ends has FightBox. In short, a majority of Canal+ assets that they acquired in recent years had resurfaced on their platforms with minor variations so MultiChoice wouldn't be any different.